Edmonton claimed the global title this year for organization of the year, best in public engagement.

It didn’t deserve it.

Individual staff do a fantastic job. But if Edmonton, at the leadership level, really has a commitment to making decisions that affect residents, with those residents, how on Earth did it create this fiasco around the Eastglen Leisure Centre?

After two years of public engagement around the pool and countless hours of staff and volunteer time, committee members were blindsided to learn that a separate, secret internal city committee had flagged the centre for closure.

Talk about breaking trust.

Now, as they scramble to rally at budget hearings, residents can’t even find out who made the decision, what factors were considered and if the data assembled was relevant.

Those reports won’t be released until after council votes.

It’s baffling.

Edmonton won the organization of the year award from the International Association for Public Participation this fall for its new engagement program. But informing the public should be the most basic step. If the city can’t release information when it is relevant, it’s not even at the starting line on public engagement.

In the words of Joe Hewko, a resident on the long-standing Eastglen engagement committee, “It miserably fails the test.”

The small Eastglen pool was quiet when I visited this week.

Two older women walked gingerly across the icy parking lot. Inside, two seniors sat in the sunshine. Three others swam lengths.

Three lifeguards and a cashier were on duty.

But the peace didn’t last long. A dozen teenage boys swarmed over from the adjacent Eastglen High School before hitting the water, leaping, splashing and knocking over the water basketball net. It was the third gym class of the day.

Joe Hewko, a member of the Eastglen consultation committee, talks about the time community members put into making a new plan for this facility and why they feel blindsided at the recommended closure.Greg Southam /
Greg Southam/

City officials say this pool — one of the rare facilities with no gym or meeting rooms — should be looked at for closure because, in 2016, paid attendance was low. It cost the city $19 per user to run, compared to an average $9 per user for other facilities that are not mega-recreation centres.

Closing the facility would save $900,000 per year, plus $400,000 in avoided renovations.

Eastglen was flagged for closure by the program and service review, which council asked for during the last three-year operating budget.

It’s the city’s effort to review all 73 lines of city business to find savings and new approaches. Each area gets a “challenge panel” made up of city officials, staff from peer cities and community or business leaders.

But those participants are nameless and sworn to secrecy. They sign confidentiality agreements and lose access to reports once the panel is complete.

“There will be some reports that will be released but that will be after we receive some direction from council,” branch manager Stephanie McCabe told my colleague Paige Parsons.

Sorry. Why would you inform and consult after a decision has been made?

“If their data is robust enough, it should be able to stand up to public scrutiny,” said Kirsten Goa, who co-chaired the council initiative on public engagement last term and is now on the committee to ensure the new policies are fully implemented.

Maybe the city does understand the role Eastglen pool plays in the neighbourhood. Maybe they did enough consultation to understand diverse perspectives, and had the right internal experts at the table.

Eastglen pool in 2015.Greg Southam /
Edmonton Journal

Then release the documents and prove it.

Better yet, scrap those confidentiality agreements. Start the challenge panel again and post the information publicly each step of the way: what questions are you asking, what data are you relying on, what perspectives are in the room?

Yeah, it’s harder. But the city will get a better result. Public engagement doesn’t have to be expensive — it does have to be transparent.

As Goa said: “If they did do their homework, then they have to hand in their homework. Especially if we’re talking about difficult decisions.”

Coun. Tony Caterina, whose ward includes Eastglen, says he’ll move that council scratch the centre closure, as well as the proposed Scona and Oliver pool closures. Recent program changes already increased attendance in 2017 and the city’s analysis doesn’t quantify the social benefit the pool brings.

Coun. Michael Walters, who co-led council’s initiative on public engagement, said the way city officials tossed out the suggestion to close “was a big mistake.”

It distracts from the real budget issues. “It wastes a lot of people’s time.”

The program and service review is a disappointment, too, he said. It hasn’t found the savings and new ideas council needs if it’s going to fund priorities like regional economic development, addressing homelessness, and adapting to climate change.

Those are all unfunded in the current budget proposal.

Edmonton needs to restart. Treat this like a council priority and have a trio of councillors directly involved.

Council needs to understand what’s actually in the base budget better, and the effort should be fully transparent. On these critical issues, you can’t afford to leave the public in the dark.

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